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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25247767">Golden Dears</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/softoriginals/pseuds/softoriginals'>softoriginals</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dogs, Domestic Fluff, F/M, claudeleth adopts a dog and name it poggers, i mean not really poggers but yeah, mentioned marihilda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:01:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,277</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25247767</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/softoriginals/pseuds/softoriginals</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The one in which Claude and Byleth dive into the world of being proud dogparents.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Golden Dears</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>big shoutout to copper for not only being an awesome person to write for but also for coming up with the title :flushed:</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“We’re adopting!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Claude spoke with pride, his green eyes sparkling as he announced the big thing. Byleth tried, but couldn’t suppress a smile. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t excited as well, taking a little creature into their home and taking care of it. It was a big step for them, as a young couple, but they had thought long and hard about it and were definitely ready.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri, who had been sitting across the couple, looked as if he was unsure of what to say. His mouth dropped as soon as Claude had finished his sentence, eyes widened in shock. Byleth looked to her side and spotted Claude grinning at the sight of their stunned friend. She quietly kicked Claude’s leg from under the table, while finishing her last sip of coffee. Then, she turned to the blonde. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A dog, Dimitri… we’re adopting a dog.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, thank god.” Dimitri breathed, visibly relieved. “I mean, no offense, but Claude… I wouldn’t deem you very fit to take care of a human baby yet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whaaat? You’re saying I wouldn’t be an amazing dad?” Claude huffed. “Just you wait and see what an amazing dog dad I’ll be. You’ll be surprised how well I can take care of youngsters.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course.” Dimitri politely smiled, not pressing further. Byleth knew exactly what that polite smile meant: he was just leaving Claude in his ideas. A wise move, really. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ll see how it goes.” Byleth commented, poking Claude to encourage him to finish his own drink. “C’mon, it’s almost time to visit the shelter. We shouldn’t be late.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right as ever,” Claude chuckled, leaning towards her to peck her cheek affectionately. “it’s good that you’re punctual. Ever since we moved in together, I was never late anywhere again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dimitri face-palmed, Byleth rolled her eyes and Claude grinned like the excited fool he was once again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>---</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Honestly, you should’ve handcuffed me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Claude spoke between laughs, petting a little cream-colored Golden Retriever while the puppy enthusiastically licked all over his face. It was an endearing sight. Byleth couldn’t keep her eyes of the couple, she had already been smitten with the pup at first glance. She guessed she had a weakness after all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why’s that?” Byleth asked, reaching out her hand to sneak in a boop on the nose. The pup happily let out a little bark, looking at her for one second before focussing back on Claude. “If I had handcuffed you, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy this sight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I literally cannot take my hands off him. It would be a crime to stop petting.” Claude lifted the little creature into the air, then brought it back down and pressed their noses together. “I think we should take him home. Look at his little dark eyes. You can’t say no to that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wasn’t even going to.” Byleth smiled, putting a hand on Claude’s shoulder gently. “Let’s go home, then. We can think of a name together on the way back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Claude nodded. He stood up and started dusting off his jeans. Byleth was about to turn around, but then she spotted something. A certain look in Claude’s eyes, a look she knew all too well. To be specific, the last time she saw that look on him, he added a ‘secret ingredient’ to Thanksgiving dinner. Let’s just say, their friends weren’t too thrilled about that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Claude.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Byleth narrowed her eyes at him when he looked at her. He had been quick to wipe that suspicious look off his face. “What’s on your mind?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Claude shrugged, stepping forward to warm an arm around Byleth and walk with her to the lady from the shelter. “Nothing. Just some thinking about the name is all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, thank god.” Byleth exhaled the breath she didn’t know she was holding in, before processing what that actually meant. “Hold on. You aren’t thinking about it, you actually have one already.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Claude sighed in defeat, offering his girlfriend his best smile and winked. “Oh my, seeing right through me as always, huh? I was thinking… Barbarossa. We can shorten it to something more simple, I just thought of it as a cool name. Ties back to some ancient history in my homeland, actually. Fighters with bows on creatures called wyverns kind of thing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Byleth looked back at the cream-colored pup they were about to take up once more, then back to Claude. She nodded. “I think it’s a fine name.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They thoroughly talked things through with the lady of the shelter, before retrieving the dog from his cage and being his owners officially. For the entirety of their trip back home, Claude hugged Barbarossa tightly while mumbling all kinds of sweet words and occasionally kissing the top of its little head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>---</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Light started to slowly filter through the blinds more and more. Birds chirped their songs outside. The temperature was still tolerable in Byleth’s and Claude’s bedroom for a summer day, a little on the cool side, even. It seemed like the perfect morning: if you didn’t count the fact that their newest family member had been continuously barking for almost ten minutes now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Byleth checked the time and grumbled at how early it was, before rolling over to Claude. She poked his face a few times, increasing force with each poke.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t pretend to be fast sleep forever.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But it worked for a good ten seconds, didn’t it?” Claude opened one eye, still visibly tired. He then sighed, before continuing. “I don’t even want to know how early it is.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He probably feels alone, locked up in his crate.” Byleth rubbed her eyes while moving to sit upright. “We can go together.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Claude mumbled some inaudible words, before getting out of bed and grabbing the first shirt he saw. He started shuffling downstairs, Byleth on his tail. Upon the sight of his owners approaching the crate, Barbarossa started wagging his tail in excitement. His barks had now turned into little squeaks. Claude fumbled with the sliders for one second before the crate opened up, the puppy storming through and crashing right into him the next second. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey there, little boy.” Claude smiled. “Let’s get you outside.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Byleth went ahead quickly and unlocked the door to their backyard. Barbarossa didn’t think twice and left Claude to explore the backyard, to the brown haired boy’s disappointment. He pouted as he scrambled back up on his feet and shuffled back to Byleth. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We could take him to the park this afternoon. Get him socialized a bit.” Claude proposed, while the couple stood in the doorstep watching over the little dog. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Byleth nodded in agreement. “Didn’t Marianne and Hilda take in a dog recently? Maybe we can meet up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hilda? She won’t even take five steps outside with the dog for the life of her.” Claude chuckled. “If Marianne would ask her, Hilda would probably say ‘who, me?’ and twist her pretty hair with her pretty little fingers.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Byleth laughed, while snuggling a little closer to Claude. He put his arm around her in response, making a content sound while not taking his eyes off the dog for one second. It had only been a few days, but Barbarossa had brought a great change of pace to their lives. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The warmth besides Byleth disappeared for a bit as Claude went into the kitchen, but returned after not too long with two glasses of orange juice. He gave his girlfriend one of the glasses, then raised his own. A smile was plastered on his face before he cleared his throat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“To us, and to many more dog children to come alongside Barbarossa.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll drink to that.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>there we go! this was the first time i've ever written something fire emblem related, but i don't plan on it being the last one either. hope you guys enjoyed it!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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